sisters, doubled the hillclimb on a Gixxer 250 shod in knobblies- while the crowd cheered them on. And Adam on a Honda CRF300 Rally proved light was right and showed a fallen KTM 1290 Super Adventure how it was done by easily riding up the hill.
WEATHER PICK‘ N MIX After a mixed bag of weather, which eased, allowing enough time to get the iconic hill climb underway, the weather turned hard in the evening as many of us were enjoying the band on the second night. After a thunderous downpour, the rain was replaced by a brief flurry of some cold frozen stuff not seen at a Cold Kiwi for some time. Needless to say, despite the shifting climate, the Cold Kiwi remains COLD. [ Despite some rain and wind, my overwhelming thoughts on the weather were that it was dry and often sunny- Ed ].
GOTTA GET THERE‘ Can you call yourself a Kiwi motorcyclist if you’ ve not attended the Cold Kiwi?’ was a key question raised during prize-giving. This year’ s event saw riders who had ventured from as far away as Perth, Australia and Dunedin make the trek to Waiouru. Sadly, it seems the event is shrinking rather than growing with official MC Neil Richy urging riders to bring a friend to the 49th edition to help Make Cold Kiwi Great Again. Team KR did its part. With last year’ s team of three tripling to a contingent of nine, with our first timers all keen to return to next year’ s event. There is so much that went on that I’ d love to divulge. From meeting new mates like“ Phil with the still” and Rik the daring truckie who took to the Ag races like a pro, some things just need to remain between mates. And, while I don’ t agree with the idea that the Cold Kiwi has lost some of its greatness, more people cutting loose and enjoy a weekend surrounded by bikes, beers, music and fun seems like a cracking idea to me. We already have Father’ s Day weekend 2026 marked down on our calendar. We hope to see you there on September 4-6 for the 49th Cold Kiwi.
KIWI RIDER 107